Copyright

Copyright is a safety feature for the author of a “work” be it the written word, music, etc. Copyright protects the author from having another individual take their work and claim that it is theirs. Without copyright laws, anything/everything (written words, thoughts, ideas) would be out there for anyone to claim “It’s my idea, I thought of it first.” Without copyright laws, no one would know who has “ownership” of the words/idea. With the copyright laws in place, people who have written a piece of fiction, scientific writing, musical lyrics, poetry, etc. know that only their name can be attached to the piece of work they have done. No one else can take the same words and place their name to the document and call it their own.A disadvantage of copyright laws is that people may use another’s words, but the original author must be cited as the author. Sometimes it’s a “hassle” to document the information one finds. Also it may be difficult to find the source of the “information.” Many times we read information, absorb the information in our minds, but don’t always pay attention who originally wrote the words. Then at some time in the future we can repeat or pharaphrase the “information someone else has written”, but we don’t remember “where we originally heard the information”. Copyright can affect schools in an adverse way by making certain materials inaccessible for the use of the teachers/students. It is important to teach students from an early age to give proper credit to the person/group who has written papers (books, journals, articles, etc.).